The man who started the power cigar trend has blended a milder version of his most famous smoke.

Carlos
Fuente Jr., creator of the Fuente Fuente OpusX, the high-octane
Dominican puro that has been one of the most sought-after cigars in the
world since its debut in 1995, has created a somewhat more easygoing
version of the smoke. Called Fuente Fuente OpusX The Angel’s Share, the
line is made with old wrappers from the middle of a tobacco plant,
rather than high-priming leaves that grow near the top.

“It’s a totally different blend,” Fuente Jr. told Cigar Aficionado during
an interview at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers
trade show earlier this month. “For Fuente Fuente OpusX, we always used
the very top of the plant [for the cigar’s wrapper leaves]. The yields
were very low. Production was low. Classically, the true wrapper leaves
came from the heart of the plant.”

Fuente
said that he has been holding onto wrapper leaves taken from the heart
of the plant—the middle primings traditionally used for cigar-industry
wrapper—from his family farm in El Caribe, Dominican Republic, called
Château de la Fuente.

“We
were putting it aside,” Fuente said of the wrapper leaves, which are
light tan in color. “We selected the best of the best for this cigar.”

Cigar
Aficionado smoked a sample Fuente Fuente OpusX Angel’s Share cigar, in
the corona gorda format. The cigar had some of the trademark Fuente
Fuente OpusX leather notes, but with less red pepper spice than found in
traditional FFOX cigars. The cigar was balanced, elegant, and slightly
sweet, with cedary flavors that evolved into cocoa notes later in the
smoke. It had a nutty and slightly leathery finish that lasted for a
long, long time.

The
term “angel’s share” is common in the spirits world. Makers of Cognac,
Scotch, Bourbon and other brown, long-aged spirits lose a great portion
of their product to evaporation. The lost liquid is said to be enjoyed
by the angels in heaven, and has been dubbed “the angel’s share.”

Fuente
had a severe fire last summer, when one of the company’s tobacco
warehouses in the Dominican Republic burst into flames, ruining
thousands of bales of tobacco, including some that had been aging for
decades. Fuente Jr. has said that the angels enjoyed the smoke, and
where he got the idea for the name of this line.

Some
of the cigars are coming out now, in limited-edition humidors made by
God of Fire/Prometheus, and a full release is expected later in the
year. The cigars will be limited in production.

Look for more information on pricing, sizes and release dates in the future.